


Deep Hues

by Kaoupa



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Homeworld is Horrible, Lots of Off Colours show up later, Post-Episode: s05e04 Lars' Head, Rebellion, Set in the Upheavals/Little Rebellions series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-11-14 15:52:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11211288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoupa/pseuds/Kaoupa
Summary: As Homeworld grew more and more advanced over the eons, and more and more expecting of perfection in everything, the phrase "Off Color" became more and more of an insult - intended to be viewed as a derogatory term, describing those who had left the radiance of the Diamonds through either coming out as defective, or not wanting to do what they had been made for.And the more and more that Homeworld tried to enforce this idea, became more demanding, became more advanced, those they tried to stomp down grew more and more numerous, more and more cunning, and, more and more, waited for the time when those of "Off Color" would be able to walk free.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragon Elexus (CompletelyDifferent)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyDifferent/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Little Rebellions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5951614) by [CompletelyDifferent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyDifferent/pseuds/CompletelyDifferent). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Off Colors and Lars delve deeper and deeper into the Gem Homeworld to arrive at a meeting with many others of their kind, Lars questions why they are going there, what "there" is, what exactly they should do when they arrive, and receives answers that may not have been what he was expecting or wanting.

Lars had to admit, "Homeworld" was an amazing place.

Or at least, the “interior” parts of Homeworld were an amazing place. Or at least the people there were. What with the exterior being the place where the Diamonds ruled? Yeah, he was a lot happier down in the Kindergarten, even if he had to deal with those robots getting sent towards them every few days throughout the impossibly vast caverns. 

At least Steven had been thoughtful enough to bring food for him. (He wasn’t sure he needed it anymore, but as they said, better safe than sorry). And the Off Colors were pretty nice company. Despite his best efforts, though, he hadn’t been able to pull off the whole “portal” thing Steven told him about over more than 50 feet…

Oh well. He’d probably get better eventually.

At least, that was what he told himself. Maybe he’d really believe it after long enough… at least the Off Colors helped him feel better.

The Rutile twins were pretty interesting to talk to - they weren’t exactly a “fusion”, from what he had seen and been told about gems, but listening to the two of them always sort of paraphrasing the other was close enough that he would have believed they were if he didn't know the details.

They had also seemed rather interested when he had brought up conjoined twins that he had heard about back on Earth.

Padparadscha, well, she was really sweet, to be honest. Even if she always had to be led around when they were really on the move and always reacted about 15 seconds late.

On the other hand, she could apparently view events way further back in the past than just a few seconds ago. As it turned out, dodging patrols was a lot easier when you could see the areas they had already been through recently.

Rhodonite was always pretty nervous, at first. But she seemed to be calming down more and more as they moved downwards - probably because they were seemingly running into more and more groups of “Off Colors” and less and less groups of robonids.

Fluorite was… pretty cool, for a giant caterpillar lady gem apparently made up of six other people.

Before he came here, died, and was brought back to life, he was pretty sure that Fluorite would have freaked him out with her appearance. To be fair, she had at first, but now…

...well, she was still the weirdest looking-person she had ever seen, but considering how long they had been hiking to seemingly nowhere, he was just happy he had people to be around.

Speaking of hiking, how long was it going to take to get to… wherever they were going?

Where were they even going, anyways?

Out of curiosity, and slight resignation, he voiced his concerns. “So… where are we going again?”

The Off Colors briefly stared at him in… shock?

“It’s… sort of a secret. We probably shouldn’t tell you till we get there.” Rhodonite frowned, her bottom set of eyes frowning in tandem with the top set closing.

“We should tell him. He deserves to know.” The Rutile twins pointed out, placing one of their arms over his shoulders. 

Rearing up on her hind legs, Fluorite suddenly began to tower over the rest of the group.

“Such meetings as this take place very rarely…” Fluorite murmured. “For the sake of all of us…”

“Er, you still haven’t told me what it is we’re going -”

It was at this point that Padparadscha finally caught up with them.

“Ah, Lars! We have been called to attend a meeting of some of the other Off Colors in the deeper areas of Homeworld.”

“Padparadscha!” Rhodonite exclaimed.

“It’s fine, dear. He was going to find out whatever happened. Now, let’s go see them all… we won’t get there by staying here.” Fluorite murmured, continuing forwards.

Quietly, the Off Colors all followed her.

 

Several days later, Lars had really gained an understanding of just how much the Diamonds and their “Authority” had apparently screwed up the gem's Homeworld.

While the “exit holes” apparently created by gems coming into existence - which was still kind of freaky even compared to the other things he had learned - had stopped appearing a long time ago - before the end of the first day, even - their effects were still pretty clear.

The area they were in now - a closed-in cave system that he still wasn’t sure how the Off Colors were navigating - wasn’t as ominous as the Kindergarten itself, but he still hadn’t seen anything even remotely alive here besides the five (six? Twelve? Fusions were really confusing sometimes...) of them, whether gem, animal, human, or plant.

At the end of the first, he had asked why there was nothing else there. 

The answer he had gotten had sort of made him wish he’d kept his mouth shut, though.

 

_ “Why is there nothing but this? All of this?” Fluorite curiously echoed Lars’s question, tilting her head around towards the rest of them, away from the holes that were, as they went further and further down, becoming more and more spaced out, until about a few hundred meters above, they had more or less stopped occurring entirely. _

_ “Er… yeah. I mean, there’s… nothing here.” Lars eventually replied. “I mean, those holes that you guys all came from were… well, there were a lot of them, but they’re all gone now. I mean… shouldn’t there be more here?”  _

_ “Er, no… not really? It’s kind of difficult to grow new gems on Homeworld now.” Rhodonite carefully stated. “What with all the resource shortages and all, the Homeworld Kindergarten has been mostly dead for a really long time except for us Off Colors.” _

_ “And the further down they burrow to get at the remaining resources they can use to make gems… the more they could start to threaten the planet’s stability and safety.” Fluorite murmured. “The Diamonds are not willing to threaten their palaces or the capital merely to make a few hundred gems they could get elsewhere…” _

_ “Stability?” Lars asked, frowning. _

_ “Oh!”  _

_ Blinking, Lars briefly gazed back at Padparadscha with the other three (four?). _

_ “Lars! We cannot see anything else here, because the methods Homeworld typically employs to make gems make seeing other life unlikely.” _

_ Lars’s heartbeat was extremely slow now, after he had been resurrected. Almost slow enough that he could feel every real alteration in its pace because of how slow it beat now. _

_ He would swear that it took twice as long to beat again after that particular sentence. _

_ “Er, what?” _

_ "To make gems, they..." "Drain planets of minerals and life." Rutile explained somewhat hesitantly. “Yeah, it’s just…” “How Homeworld works.” The Rutile twins said in unison.  _

_ “Like how Homeworld would kill us if they ever found us?” Lars questioned, really not liking where this was going. _

_ “Yeah, we’re not exactly fond of it either.” Rhodonite admitted. _

_ “The Diamonds and their Authority are not fond of those who could usurp them…” Fluorite slowly stated. “Some think that the only reason the Kindergartens do such damage to their host worlds is because they wish it that way, to ensure no other races can rise against them but from the gems that they already control…” _

_ Lars was feeling less and less comfortable as this conversation progressed. “So, those giant ladies aren't just dictators, they’re going full 1987?!” _

_ “1987?” “What’s that?” The Rutile twins asked as one. _

_ “It’s…” Lars paused briefly to consider that the people he was talking to had very little knowledge of fiction or books, probably. “...kind of the closest frame of reference i’ve got for this sort of thing.” _

_ The Off Colors, while they all looked somewhat confused, seemed to accept this as an explanation. _

_ And with that particular conversation over (and Lars hoping he could forget it later), the however-many of them (five? Six? More?) moved onwards. _

_ Lars hoped that, the next time they spoke, the topic would turn out to be less disturbing than it had been this time. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Off Colors arrive at their destination, and Lars learns that the four he knows are far from the only ones there are...

 

“When are we gonna get there, Fluorite?!” Lars demanded, extremely exasperated by now in spite of his newfound patience. “I swear I’ve walked more in two weeks here than I have over the rest of my life!”

The enormous caterpillar-like fusion had been asked this question, or a similar one, several times over the past several weeks that they had all been traveling. And to her credit, she had yet to get mad at Lars for asking.

“We are nearly there now, Lars.” She murmured kindly, turning around the bend in front of her. 

“You said that two days ago…” Lars muttered as he turned the corner himself.

However, the second he did, he stopped, dead in his tracks as he gazed in awe at the area in front of him.

“...whoa.” 

“Friends, a vision has come to me!”

“What is it, Padparadscha?” Rhodonite asked, guiding the shorter gem forwards gently.

“Lars will be rendered speechless in awe at what has been created over time!”

At the moment, Lars was too occupied with gazing (and gaping) at what was in front of him to focus on Padparadscha’s “prediction”.

Because she was, as always, right.

The place before him, was, flatly put, the single largest open-space arena that he had ever seen - sports stadiums, he was pretty sure, had just about nothing on this place. 

And really, a sports stadium was the best comparison he could come up with, as he looked over the insanely big space, filled with stone seats and places to stand or sit, stairs that went almost too far up to see (though he could indeed see the highest parts, and overall…

...Well, this place was pretty much the big brother of the Colosseum in Rome.

And furthermore, it was filled with Gems.

Well, not exactly  _ filled _ , to be exact.

_That is… a lot of empty seats._ Lars thought to himself as he looked over the many spaces that were left untouched and unfilled. Overall, it seemed to him that only one in every five or so spaces was occupied by a gem (though a good deal of the gems here took up a lot more than just one seating space, it looked like). 

Part of Lars pointed out that it wasn’t realistic to expect every seat to be filled. This place must have taken an insanely long time to carve out without being noticed - probably for the sake of safety, since having every last Off Color on Homeworld in one space all at once was very risky.

“Er… there are more of you guys than this, right?”

But even so, he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Yeah, there are. It’s really hard-” “-to get anywhere near all of us in here at once.” 

The twins finished for each other without missing a beat.

“And spreading word of meetings to every Off Color in the Deeps is really, really hard with how much we’re spread out…” Rhodonite added. “We have to plan meetings entire solar cycles before they happen, usually, just to make sure enough of us hear about them!”

“Shhhh…” 

To everyone’s surprise, the “Shhh” originated from Padparadscha.

“Everyone, we must find our seats. I think that they might start talking soon.”

By the time Padparadscha finished speaking, the other four (fusions counted as just one for now…) had picked her up and started moving downwards. 

Even though he did his best to stay with the other Off Colours in his group, Lars spent a lot of time gazing at the masses of gems that had gathered in this… amphitheater of the Deeps. 

Most of them looked like Padparadscha or Rhodonite, by his standards; fairly human in nature, even if some of them had more or less than two arms, eyes, ears, or legs. Considering what he’d seen down here in the Deeps so far… that was sort of par for the course, by now.

A few of them, overall, looked like Rutile - while clearly humanoid/geminoid, there was “something” about them that made it clear they weren’t truly normal by the standards of others.

And even though he never saw any of them up close, Lars swore that, out of the corners of his vision, he could see a few gem fusions that made Fluorite, the diamonds, or that super-giant woman that Steven’s family had formed look tiny or normal by comparison.

Eventually, however, they had descended far enough that it was actually possible to see the bottom of the massive construction (with Lars sneezing constantly because of all the dust that had been stirred up), as well as what appeared to be a stage - and what he would guess was the speaker.

Said “probably-the-speaker” looked a lot like those two ladies that had announced the arrival of the diamonds, he absently noted, as well as one of Steven’s guardians, save that she was colored… gray, it looked like from this distance. It was really hard to tell with how dark it was and well… all of his surroundings being gray as well.

“It has been a long time since our last meeting in this place…” Fluorite stated. “There used to be far fewer of us who came.”

Lars blinked as he looked around. The crowd was thicker down here, but still, he estimated that only one or two seats out of every five were filled. “This is a lot of you - er, us?” he corrected himself.

Fluorite nodded. “Indeed, Lars. Since Era 2 began and the production of higher-capability gems was discontinued... the overall rates of creation of those Homeworld considers defective has grown more and more, since fewer resources are used to make more gems now. But it is harder and harder to notice the difference between those who are created “properly” and those like us... so far more of them escape now… and make their way down here.”

“So… if it’s only a tenth full, and this is a lot of you, why is this place so big?” 

“If the Diamonds start a purge, we wanted to make sure that there’d be enough room for all of us to hide down here, and we’re… actually not really sure that it’ll fit all of us now.” Rhodonite said quietly from behind him.

“That is why a lot of us-” “-started attending these meetings, Rhodonite.” The Rutiles said in tandem.

“To one day… see the sun and sky again without fear…” Fluorite gazed towards the ceiling longingly.

“Er, as I understood the people up top will try to kill us if they see us.” Lars pointed out.

“There’s… always going to be gems who will try to kill us.” Rhodonite sadly whispered. “No matter who leads, who gives orders, there’s always going to be hate…”

“So we’re going to try-” “-to lower their numbers.” The Rutiles said as one.

Lars, to his credit, almost instantly realized what they were talking about. 

It was extremely clear - almost every story he’d read that featured an “evil empire” of some sort had a rebellion.

He just had never figured, in a million years, that he would ever get caught up in one.

But... 

_ Eh, what the heck. _ He thought. 

It wasn’t like much had gone as he’d expected in the last few weeks, besides Steven, Connie, the Crystal Gems, his parents, and Sadie visiting a lot.

And with that (somewhat depressing, somewhat pleasant) thought in mind, he sat down and began listening to the grey gem far below him, who had come down from the surface, as she spoke to the waiting Off Colors of the revolution that was soon due to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fic is mostly complete, now... if I do make any other chapters, they're probably going to take place during the start of the New Rebellion, when the Off Colors start to join the fray.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodonite meets a certain figure from her past after the tables have turned, and feels a little better afterwards.

_ Under both the light of both the sun and the stars, and the light that it generated from the supercity on its surface, the gem Homeworld burned. _

_ The revolt had taken the defending Quartzes, Rubies, and countless other military caste gems by total surprise, whereas it was also clear that the attacking force had seemingly been waiting and preparing for this for a long time, and was all too happy to take every advantage they had on their new enemies. _

_ Attempts to coordinate the efforts made at defense had only grown more and more confusing as the rebels gained ground - and the fact that there was seemingly a traitor in every last squad willing to open doors and gates for the rebels that would have taken too long to force open made it worse. _

_ Things were chaotic, to say the least - and the fact that all three Diamonds were out of action, with Blue Diamond vanished from her own control room, nobody certain where Yellow Diamond was, and White Diamond’s sector under siege by a colossal combined force that had reportedly defeated the High Matriarch in combat and bubbled her gem - was not helping matters. _

_ The flames of Rose's Rebellion had not gone past the planet Earth, but it had, over time, spread its light to a million other planets through whispers and dreams. _

_ After two Eras of tyranny and the building of an empire built on blood and shards, the castes and the Authority were crumbling at last. _

 

In one of the manufacturing areas of Homeworld, screams were filling the air.

Normally, this would be the cue for the many workers, whether Bismuth, Granite, Limestone, or even Coral, to head in a different direction, subtly. Because normally, screaming was the sign that someone - likely a fellow worker - had failed in a major way and gotten the attention of the Agates.

The subtle part was often because any other Agates in the area that saw someone running might be tempted to force the runner to watch, or even give them similar treatment.

It was a fact of life, and one that the workers hated. However, Agates were elite combatants even among Quartzes - even in Era 2, they didn’t keep charge of vast groups of soldiers with just fear (typically), and their ranks as elites meant that they could do almost anything to the lowly workers they had been assigned to oversee - a fact the more sadistic Agates delighted in. 

Now, however, the tables had turned. As could be seen clearly by the group of Corals and Rubies currently surrounding one of the formerly-defended elites of the area, taking turns striking her.

“What are you all doing?!”

At least, until a voice that none of them had ever heard before - but which sounded sort of familiar - cut into them pummeling their former boss.

As one, all of them spun around, with two of the Rubies giving an additional punch to their victim before looking to see if they had another enemy to deal with.

However, they quickly realized that the gem now standing in front of them was just as loyal to their cause as they were. Mostly because fusions - especially fusions that had a Pearl in them - were punishable by death for their existence.

“We, we need to go!” Rhodonite began to stammer, trying to focus herself. “T-there’s a lot more resistance in Facet 7 than we thought there’d be, they need help there now! Why are you all doing… whatever this is?!” 

Several of the group’s members got an embarrassed look on their faces as they remembered - somewhat late - that they were currently all aiding an open rebellion against the Authority that was already stretched thin in many ways.

Most of them, however, only looked annoyed.

Rhodonite did her best to not shudder at the uncaring looks she saw in their eyes.

She knew that look well, though. She had seen it herself far too many times in the last few cycles as she had met more and more gems from the surface, who had been dealing with the tyranny of the Authority for even longer than she had and possibly at far worse hands. 

It was a look that spoke of suffering. Anger and fear, suppressed for so long, finally being given an outlet towards their causes.

Said causes were mostly other gems, unfortunately.

“Give us a bit longer.” One of the Rubies said uncaringly, returning her gaze to the unfortunate gem that the group had been attacking for the last few minutes.

“Who are you even doing this to?!” Rhodonite protested, moving forwards to see who had drawn this much anger on themselves from their former subordinates.

Her question was answered almost instantly as her four eyes gazed downwards.

For several seconds, she was silent. Part of her wanted to withdraw into herself and run as far as she could.

The other half wanted almost nothing more than to change her mind and join the other rebels in beating down the gem in the middle of the road.

“You…” Came the hiss from below.

Rhodonite quietly looked down at the Morganite that, many cycles ago, had been her master.

And eventually, she raised one of her feet and brought it down. 

A foot that had been shapeshifted into a extremely sharp point.

“Hey!” One of the Rubies protested, as Rhodonite picked up the bubble now containing Morganite’s gemstone. “How come you get-”

Rhodonite's lower eyes made contact with the Ruby in question.

“She... _was... my_ master.” Rhodonite replied quietly, sending the bubble away like Garnet had shown her and the rest of the Off Colors.   She was hugging herself with her lower set of arms as she said at, and her upper set of eyes were gazing at the ground, before murmuring something in a pair of voices that weren't quite her own.

"She can't hurt us now."

A peaceful smile came over Rhodonite's face.

"Not ever again."

The rest of the mob felt understanding dawn.

There was a brief silence among the group as they gazed at where the bubbled gem had been. Several of them wondered where their former tormentor was now.

Up until a ringing tone filled the air.

“What's th -” One of the corals began to ask.

She was cut off midsentence by Rhodonite drawing out something that none of the other gems recognized from part of her dress, which appeared to be making the ringing sound.

“What’s that thing?” One of the rubies asked, sounding puzzled.

“It’s called a… phone, i think? Humans use them to communicate. Er… we think that Homeworld can’t tap into them because they forgot how they work at all?” Rhodonite said quickly, before flipping it open “Lars?” She asked, sounding puzzled as she held it up to her ear.

“Rhodonite, where are you?!” The pink human yelled over the phone. “They’ve started pulling their act together in Facet... 5? Yeah, it’s Facet 5. Get some backup and get over here right now!”

The yelling from Lars was perfectly audible to the rest of the group, causing several of the Rubies to mash their fists together and grin, and one or two of the Corals to start “pulling” some of the dust that covered the ground into balls of dirt.

“Um, i’ve got some gems right here?” Rhodonite began rubbing two of her hands together nervously. “So, do you need us now, or can this wait-?”

“THERE’S BARELY TWO OF US FOR ONE OF THEM, MOST OF OUR GOOD FIGHTERS IN THE SECTOR HAD TO EVACUATE TO HELP ELSEWHERE, AND THEY’RE DUG IN! GET OVER HERE!” Lars yelled over the phone.

He might be working on his anger, but now - the middle of a mass rebellion - was not the time, at all, for anyone to not be pulling their weight.

“Right!” Rhodonite stammered quickly, shutting the phone. “E-everyone, let’s move!” 

A roar went up from the rebel gems as they hurried down the path towards their next target.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There should be two more chapters due after this, maybe one more after that detailing Lars going back to Earth after the main force on Homeworld has been overthrown.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluorite and the Gems themselves have finished their first raid - now, they have to focus on other issues.

_ However, this admittedly off-guard moment didn’t mean that the defenders were completely and hopelessly outmatched. While the rebels had swiftly started seizing important sites, and were abusing the loyalist’s lack of leadership by sending in stolen ships to barrage their forces and attack any still-confused patrols, they had their own ships, and most of the armories remained under their control and in their territory at the moment (even if there was a lot of suspicion being directed towards the workers there on account of how half of their laser guns had stopped working…) _

_ The numbers and momentum of the rebels were proving to be a problem, to say the least, however, and it was looking more and more like their best option would be to begin a fighting retreat - to fall back to the Galaxy Warps, evacuate to other systems, determine who was in command now, and start preparing their counterattack.  _

_ The orders had already started to go out to the remaining troops on Homeworld - it was clear the planet was mostly lost. As such, what soldiers remained were ordered to defend the few remaining defensible points and begin evacuation from the areas that were lost - and to bomb said areas once they were mostly evacuated to destroy anything the rebels could use for themselves. _

_ Partway through the battle, however, several Homeworld soldiers had reported that there were a handful of what appeared to be defective gems running around and taking part in the battle, aiding the rebels in the fight. _

_ Initially, command had paid little mind to the reports. They were already dealing with a mass uprising among gems who were perfectly functional - the addition of a few rejects from the Deeps was not something to be concerned about. _

_ Up until defects had stopped being the only Off-Colors that had been showing up. _

  
  


The soldiers of Homeworld were all moving at an incredible pace around Homeworld’s Facet 4 as they prepared to deploy elsewhere on-world - according to their commanding Agates (at least, the ones who had chosen to share what was going on), Facet 4 was completely secure (since so far, none of the residents had rebelled beyond a few soldiers, who had mostly rebelled by fleeing elsewhere), but it was one of the only Facets to be that way at the moment.

And given how the rebel forces were currently mobilizing and overrunning the guards in the bordering facets, a good deal of those soldiers doubted that it would be that way for long.

However, all of the gems who remained were (mostly) loyal to the Diamonds and their empire, and followed their orders without question - to reinforce the “edges” of Facet 4 so that any remaining loyalists could eventually make it in to evacuate.

The Warp Pads into Facet 4 had all been locked down by several platoons of troops with (working) laser guns, and the regional defense grid was currently making air travel into or out of the area for anyone who tried to travel by air very difficult. 

They had yet to come up with an ID code that the rebels hadn’t been able to steal within half an hour, and the enemy might not have as many warships as they did, but they had enough that it had been decided the best move would simply be to seal off any air attacks, or at least make them far more painful to launch.

Using their own warships would have been their first move, but given that early reports claimed at least half of their air force had been unable to leave the launch bays, and the Peridots and engineers all said it would take several cycles to get them working again at least, that option was off the table. 

With the air blocked off by a massive artillery battery, and any entrances to the Kindergartens that they could find sealed with field-generated disruptor tech, there should have been no quick way into the Facet that Homeworld would not have been immediately aware of.

Of course, there’s a flaw in every plan, often stemming from something you didn’t know and couldn’t plan for. And this plan was no different.   
  


 

In the middle of the Facet, there was a currently-abandoned factory. Designed for making spaceship parts, production had ceased swiftly after the revolts had begun, and the technicians had been evacuated to an offworld site where they could continue production unmolested.

And even though they would never realize it, that had been exactly what the rebels had been planning for.

“----aaaaaAAAAHHHHH!”

Out of nowhere, a vortex of pink opened up on one of the walls. And several seconds after it appeared, a swiftly-moving pink… being, came out, before coming to a halt on the floor.

Then, a noise came from the pink being as it pulled itself up, revealing the form of a large beast (also called a lion) that nobody on Homeworld had been familiar with before a few days ago.

“Did it work?”

It didn’t seem to be coming from the lion (or Lion) himself, though. Instead, it seemed to be coming from his body.

And judging by how there was now a short Amethyst pulling her head out of the mane itself, and the pair of gems (or trio, considering one was a fusion) were getting off his back, that was probably the case.

“Well P, it looks like Lion hit the right place.” Amethyst said, looking around the deserted factory, feeling a small chill run through her. This place was… dead, really. No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see anything truly resembling a place for just... living. All that there was here, was work spaces, and what seemed to be propaganda posters.

And there were both gems _and_ humans that did this?

“Lion did hit the right place.” Garnet replied calmly, getting off with Pearl and gazing around. “No traps here. Get the others.”

“Got it!” Amethyst nodded, focusing back on the present before heading back into Lion’s mane.

“Are you sure this will work, Garnet?” Pearl questioned, her spear already in hand. “Without Steven and -” 

“We have enough backup already, Pearl. And Steven and Connie are back behind the main lines with plenty of guards - they will be fine.” Garnet replied, nodding to Lion’s mane - and to Steven, on the other side. “The attack on the Facet’s outskirts has already begun -”

As if to accentuate her point, a loud quartz-borne roar came from outside the abandoned building. However, it was getting more distant instead of closer to them.

“-and we’ve all got Steven’s saliva.” She added, pulling out a small bottle from Ruby’s gem, filled with a clear liquid. “And if needed, he’s right on the other side of Lion’s mane.”

Pearl’s face scrunched up as she remembered Steven and Connie on the inside of the airless space, bubbles around both of their heads and a pair of tubes running through Lars’s head, allowing them to breathe even in the strange storage area. However, before she could respond, a large shadow began to block the light from behind the three of them. 

Without even blinking, they all turned around to see the massive Off Color fusion forming behind them, alongside many others who were emerging one at a time, with Amethyst jogging back to them.

“You’re ready, Fluorite.” Garnet stated, a smile spreading over her face when she saw the massive caterpillar-akin fusion who was currently “kneeling” on the floor to avoid notice.

Pearl and Amethyst would swear their ears were _ still _ ringing from Garnet’s squee when she had first seen her and Rhodonite.

“We are well, Garnet…” Fluorite calmly replied, before something happened that none of them had seen the six-gem fusion do before.

She frowned. And she did it very quickly.

“But I doubt that the gems outside will be able to say the same when we are done with them.”

Briefly, an image flashed through Garnet’s mind of the Rebellion’s fusion training grounds on Earth in the Sahara - after Fluorite had managed to truly get used to using her form for combat and focusing her component’s attention towards a single target during it.

_ “Garnet, I am really glad that I don’t really work on buildings anymore.” _

As well as Bismuth’s reaction when she had seen how roughly two weeks of repair work had failed to restore the desert arena’s integrity when bringing a shipment of new practice blades.

“Likely.” Garnet agreed, before taking a quick look over the rapidly-growing force of gems in front of her - mostly consisting of Off Color fusions and whatever remaining gems hadn’t been shattered or poofed from the force that had overrun White Diamond’s base.

Perfect.

“What are your orders, your clarity?” One of the Feldspars asked, giving a hasty circle salute.

Garnet frowned. “It’s Garnet, first.” 

For a second, the Feldspar looked surprised, before getting her normal look back. “Er, yes, Garnet.”

“Good.” The permafusion gave the apologetic Feldspar a quick smile, before snapping back to “commander” mode. “Everyone, focus! Homeworld is currently trying to retreat to the Galaxy Warps in this and the other sectors, pulling back all their troops and every supply they can..”

The crowd of rebels was poised to let out a roar, until Garnet made the gem gesture for silence.

“However, for now, we are going to leave the Galaxy Warps undisturbed.”

Now, the rebels looked more confused than enthusiastic. Pearl replied by quickly projecting a large view of the sector.

“Currently, the Authority is aware that Homeworld is going to fall soon. As such, they’re planning to deny us any use of the planet wherever possible. Factories, airships, everything that we can use to produce materials, will probably start going up in smoke when they start to retreat. Our assignment is to deal with all of the gems who aren’t fighting on the front lines and take over any industrial factories, armories, or other areas that we can repurpose for later, and deal with any explosives or demolitions teams.”

As she spoke, Lion’s mane began to glow again, before a small human emerged, carrying a large basket filled with what appeared to be small wristbands to most of the gems there.

“Thank you, Connie.” Pearl smiled, before picking up one of the bands and placing it around her arm, before speaking into it. “Do you -”

“We hear you, Renegade Squadron.” Came a voice from the other end of the line, cutting Pearl off before she could finish - as if they could see the future.

Which this group could. 

“The Clarity Group has perfect visual. You may proceed.”

Recognizing just what gem type was on the other end of those lines, the squadron began to pass around the communicators as fast as possible.

“Anybody got questions?” Amethyst half-bellowed.

This time, there were no confused or hesitant looks. Only roars - of both rage and excitement.

Before anyone could give the word, however, a massive wham came from the inside door that led to the production line. Instantly, every gem in the chamber reached for whatever they were armed with - Era 1 gems for their weapons, Era 2s for whatever technology they had been able to scavenge from the ongoing assaults.

However, all of them declined to fire when they saw that it was just Fluorite.

Granted, Fluorite in a combat position, with her “tail” in front, and a large, multi-ton door that had been launched clear out of its frame.

“Is everyone ready?” She asked.

The roars came even louder as the rebels lifted their instruments of combat and cheered.

“Good. Let’s go!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they take the opposite of their usual role in "hunter and hunted", the Rutile twins and Padparadscha finally get a chance to see the sky of Homeworld again.
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, due to me wanting to get it out fast.

_ As the plan had begun, and most of the Homeworld-controlled areas had begun evacuations, one of the sectors deep within the zone they had designated as the fallback area had begun spewing out of nowhere the monsters, defects, baroques, fusions, and other…  _ things _ that had overrun White Diamond’s base. That knowledge had forced lines to be shifted, troops to be redirected to deal with the new front, and had seemingly been the signal for a good number of the gems in those previously almost-untouched areas, civilian and military both, to suddenly change sides and start adding to the chaos. _

_ And then, in the wake of the arrival of the force that had toppled a Diamond, the Off Colors had apparently taken it as a signal to show up in force. Massive beings that wouldn’t even qualify as true gems to most of the remaining loyalists had begun tearing their forces apart, with several of them being large enough that they would have towered over even the Diamonds themselves had they been able to stand face-to-face without trying to kill each other. _

_ Currently, the massed invasion into the core sectors that remained under their control was penetrating deeper and deeper by the hour, and the initially planned fallback had descended into near-chaos, with entire platoons being stranded in enemy territory and being forced to resort to guerilla warfare to have any hope of making it to the remaining Warp Pads that could lead to an offworld bastion. _

_ However, the insurgents had started focusing their efforts away from conquering the remaining loyal Facets on Homeworld - reports indicated that they had instead started focusing on rooting out any of the Empire’s servants within their new domain. _

_ And no matter how hard the patriots tried to hide or blend in to meet up with someone that could get them out, the rebels always seemed to find them. _

 

“It’s… really weird seeing things from this side.”

“I know, usually we’re the ones being hunted.”

As they roamed the upper streets of Homeworld, surrounded by a small platoon of other rebels, the Rutile twins couldn’t help but comment on the situation.

Partially because they couldn’t help but wonder about things (since it had often been the only thing they could do down in the Kindergartens).

And mostly, to help take their minds off of the looks that they had gotten from the other gems around them. Even though they had anticipated not all of the “normal” rebels would be willing to accept them...

...It still hurt.

“Friends, a vision has come to me!”

At least they still had Padparadscha around. Off Colours stuck together, after all. The rest of the squad quickly halted in place, waiting for their resident seer to say whatever it was that she had seen.

As it turned out, having the power to see what had happened somewhere recently was really useful when you were trying to find people who had started hiding just recently.

“A small number of quartzes - with diamond symbols remaining - has gone into the lower levels on the next street, and are trying to rig their explosives to demolish any of our forces that pass through!”

However, before any of the gems present could start to panic, or call the info in, a rather interesting event took place when Padparadscha finished her sentence.

Namely, a massive explosion roughly a block over. Well away from where any of the other search parties should have been - they were currently spread out over most of the Facet.

“...Looks like they failed.” A Labradorite spoke up eventually.

A few weak chuckles occurred.

“All right -” “- Call it in.” The twins said as nearly-one.

“We’re not going to go -?” One of the two Obsidians in the group started to ask. One of the gems there who was comfortable with them - several others had looked away when 

“Our job is to locate enemy guerillas -” One of the Rutiles began again. “- and if they have more explosives and survived…” The other finished.

No one protested after that.

“All right, I called them in! Let’s go!” 

Nodding at the Pearl that had spoken up, the small platoon of rebel Gems ran deeper into the conquered Facet, the “remove” part of their “search and remove” team already heading to their position to deal with anyone that may have survived the explosion, while the “search” group continued their half of things. 

It wasn’t exactly what the Rutiles or Padparadscha had pictured would happen if they ever got to see the surface again, but it wasn’t too bad so far.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if he can't help the fighting directly (and doesn't really want to help with the fighting directly), Lars can assist the war effort in other ways.
> 
> Also, I am now sort of searching for a beta. If anyone wants to chime in, i'll be happy to get help.

_ Gem space erupted with riots, violence, and fighting across a thousand worlds, many of the “civilians” and soldiers from both Eras taking up arms at last to overthrow their oppressors. From every caste, every rank, and every type, gems rose against the ideals that had once oppressed their society for so long. _

_ Administrators used every trick they had to clog the networks and prevent communications, computer technicians sent signals that drove the machines in the factories insane, and elites who had yet to openly rebel used their influence to send orders to the remaining loyalists into traps or fighting against each other. _

_ Ships, buildings, and in some cases entire colonies, burned and began to tumble down, as the remnants of the Diamond Authority’s leadership grew more and more confused. _

_ How could this have gone unnoticed for so long? How had the watchful eye of the Diamonds failed to notice so many gems growing more and more rebellious? An uprising or plan even a fraction of this size should have been noticed long ago by someone and reported to those supposed to keep it in check. The Authority was invincible. Omnipresent. Every world was theirs by right and should bow to them. _

_ And until far later, none of them would realize that belief was the exact reason why they had failed to see the anger, resentment, and fear growing under their very nose until it had grown too much to be stopped. _

_ However, even as the war began, sides became more and more clear, planets began to prepare and fortify themselves after evicting one side for the long fight ahead,  and the commanders of both the Rebellion and Homeworld’s remaining forces gained a clearer portrait of what each of their resources were (and both sides found themselves short-handed than they would have liked), a handful of worlds remained untouched by the conflict. _

_ A small planet in the Carbonite System, known to Homeworld as Planet 25x-6, clear of organic life long before they had arrived, and (to Homeworld’s knowledge), a minor colony that had started to expand (before the insurrection, at least) - and to the Rebellion, their current headquarters. _

_ Gamma-Zed-3, a world long abandoned by the Authority for being all but useless for making more gems, and now inhabited by a “string” of fifty-two pearls, and the many gems of the New Rebellion that had recently also made homes and factories there to aid in the war. _

_ And, one more. The world’s name was not widely known in the Diamond Authority among the newer “Era 2” gems, even amongst the rebels, who had somewhat better access to information than the gems under the Authority’s caste system. Earth was not a planet that many gems thought of, and when they did think of it, it was more often than not with mixed (at best) feelings. _

_ However, Earth was not a planet that, despite the best efforts of the Diamonds, anyone in the Empire who knew of it - the rebels least of all - had been able to forget.  _

_ Nowadays, the planet's remaining facilities were mostly considered useless by both sides. The long-destroyed Era 1 tech onworld was seen as archaic by the Authority and rebels alike. _

_For any Homeworld gems (save one particular Peridot who had rebelled), the Earth was useless for a simple reason._

_The planet had been devastated by the Diamonds in their attack. At least, that was what they had been told - and since the world had never been used as a colony afterwards, it must have been viewed as useless for the Gem Empire’s purposes._

_After all, the Diamonds were hardly the sort to let something as minor as a defeat, however unprecedented, keep them from doing what was best for Gemkind._

_ And for the rebellion… opinions differed as to what should be done with the world. Some said that the planet should be left undisturbed, as a monument to the goals of the original Crystal Gems - those who had inspired so many of them at the cost of their lives and minds.  _

_ Others said that the planet should be used as a colony so that they could grow more quartzes to aid them - worlds this prosperous that the Authority didn’t already know about and have boots on the ground on were otherwise impossible to find.  _

_ Another group (mostly composed of older rubies or quartzes) opposed to that faction, however, pointed out that  _ forcing _ gems to fight was what many of them were trying to  _ prevent.

_ However, when they had all been told by one of the higher-ups that the planet was still under surveillance by the Diamonds - and that something as major as an unplanned mission or Kindergarten reactivation would be likely noticed immediately - it had been agreed that any debates could wait till after the Authority had been overthrown or when the rebellion could fight them more openly. _

_ However, those opinions had only been present before the thought-dead Crystal Gems had made contact with the rebels near a planet that had been taken from the Authority under their very nose. _

_ The Rebellion’s leader had been all too happy to let the Earth go undisturbed as part of the two sides agreeing to work together, in exchange for access to a… certain location. _

_ After all, there was something on Earth far more valuable there than simple resources for her troops. Worlds that were mostly unviewed by the Authority were rare - but the location on Earth she wanted was far more useful than any planet in the empire save perhaps Homeworld itself. _

_ After all, with the Rose Quartzes bubbled - save one - healing waters were not exactly easy to find. _

  
  
  
  


“So, why are we all here again, exactly?” Lars asked, his hand in his face.

He was having very weird feelings about this, to say the least. Which really said a lot, considering what had happened to him before.

Eating a donut that had literally made him spew fire? In hindsight, he had probably deserved… no, he had definitely deserved that. Even if Mayor Dewey had tried to fine him for ruining the giant ice cream bowl until his parents talked him down (and who the heck made  _ giant ice cream bowls _ into  _ attractions _ during the  _ middle of summer _ anyways?!)

Stranded on an island for several weeks? He could understand why Sadie had done it after she explained, but he had been angry for a while.

Getting possessed by Steven? He had been enraged for a while over it (again, understandably), but had, again, eventually managed to calm down. 

Getting kidnapped by a gem who had probably inspired some sort of myth about evil short people and two of the biggest (and sappiest) women he had ever seen? Well, he had felt a lot better after talking (sort of) with Topaz.

Even if he was still planning to poof Aquamarine and have Steven bubble her if he ever caught her without her wand. Frankly, it would probably be a favor to the universe if he did.

Getting used as part of a trial, breaking out using a tyrant’s car-equivalent, making friends with a bunch of “defects” that were hiding in fear for their lives, dying, and being resurrected accidentally?

...Okay, it had taken him a while to even process what had been going on, it had all happened very fast, and by the end of it, he was just happy that he was still alive (even if a zombie), had friends, and had rescue coming.

But this?

“Move your head down a bit, human.”

“My name is Lars, thanks.” Lars stated bluntly. But regardless, he moved his head down a bit more.

Ignoring the words from the oddly colored organic in front of her, the Heliodor began to step back a bit to calculate the distances that she could currently see, before nodding.

“Okay gems, let’s go!” she yelled as she stepped into Lars’s head, before wincing as she stepped into the glowing portal.

“This feels weird…” she muttered as she sank into the pink depths.

Behind her, the group of gems that had just emerged from Rose’s Fountain, and were now getting a quick drying courtesy of one Lapis Lazuli.

“People, remind me again - why exactly can’t they just take one of those faster-than-light ships to get back to Homeworld?” Lars quickly asked the small crowd in front of him.

Several of them looked surprised by the question.

However, since it took several seconds for Lars to get a response from one of the Prases, it seemed that it might have been a pretty good question after all.

“There aren’t any ships here on Earth at the moment.” One of the Nephrites (he was pretty sure that was their name) said.

“Um… didn’t you guys turn this place into one of your bases when you found out about the Fountain Steven’s mom had?” Lars questioned, gesturing briefly towards the large ornamental piece of architecture in question.

There was a sigh from behind Lars. Turning around, he saw the short girl - Connie, as he remembered - being fussed over by both of her parents.

The fact that she had been “pinkified” like he was during the attack on White Diamond’s base probably had something to do with that. She still had all her limbs like he did, but...

“Okay, Lars, er… Currently, Homeworld planted, several thousand years ago a sort of… fusion in Earth, because of Yellow Diamond’s orders.” Connie sighed. “They were watching over it until it emerged with a lot of different satellites that transmitted back to Homeworld. They weren’t interested in any close scans of Earth, but a big disturbance would have probably set off something.”

To his credit, Lars made the connection within a few seconds. “So, my head is the only way on or off world right now,  because your boss didn’t want anyone to figure out that you turned Earth into a hideaway?”

“...yes?” One of the rebels eventually replied.

Lars eventually shrugged “All right… l guess I can live with that if it keeps everyone safe." 

Then, he held his head down again. "Should we get this over with?”

A Era 2 Lapis Lazuli had stepped forwards and into his skull before he had even finished his sentence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Zoo might look unimportant at first glance to most of the Authority's members who knew about it, save as a place of mourning for Pink Diamond.
> 
> For the Rebellion, the Zoo has many other uses.

“Holly Blue! Holly!”

As she heard the rapidly beating feet approach her on the floor, Holly Blue Agate did her best to keep herself from reacting badly.  _ Stay calm. Be  _ calm _. _

Once, the blue-tinted agate would have scolded the defectives here for running in the halls. One never knew who was watching besides her - if another Agate, or one of the Empire’s elites had seen such a lack of control from the gems she controlled, she’d be stuck on this station forever.

And that would probably be if she was lucky…

However, that had been before she had been humiliated by the rebels, with  _ every Earth Quartz she knew of watching _ her get nearly crushed.

Any fear they had previously had of her had gone right out the window after that, especially when it turned out a few of the Jaspers had recorded the entire incident over the station’s monitors!

So now, she was biding her time. Oh, technically, they still listened to her most of the time, but she had no illusions. They would get rid of her, as soon as they had the chance, whether by “accident”, or by her getting her long-awaited promotion and then sending the video out, likely.

And oh, the second she had any greater voice in Blue Diamond’s court, she would do all she could to see that this sorry lot was removed from Homeworld’s issues for good. 

“Holly!” 

Snapping herself out of her semi-murderous thoughts, the Agate returned her attention to the small defect that was standing in front of her, still trying to get her attention. 

“Yellow Diamond’s ship is approaching!”

Of course, as soon as she heard those words, Holly Blue Agate felt herself perking up.

She was not unaware of the recent events that had taken place on Homeworld - the news of a massive uprising from across the entire planet, with rebels of seemingly every caste joining in the fighting, starting less than a single cycle ago, and similar news was coming in from worlds across the Empire.

After reading the first few reports that she had access to when the fighting had started, Holly had swiftly turned off her personal computer, before typing a command into the Zoo’s systems, so that any transmissions would only be able to arrive via her personal systems.

She didn’t need the bunch of Earthmades outside getting any ideas after all. With Blue Diamond having seemingly vanished into the air somehow, there was a poor chance, at best, that anyone else would bother going to the Zoo while the rebellion was still active.

It would be crushed sooner or later, undoubtedly, but she was very much aware that… incidents… could easily take place between that time and now and be glossed over later. 

She did not plan on being one of those “incidents” herself, and there were far too many quartzes for her to arrange one for all of them alone...

However, Yellow Diamond hated the Zoo - she saw it as a waste of resources, time, and gempower - and above all, as an excuse to keep a bunch of worthless defects and organics alive for no reason.

And with Blue Diamond currently having vanished...

Nodding absently to the Jasper that had found her, Holly Blue quickly began to adjust her course towards the main bay of the Zoo, where Yellow Diamond’s ship would be emptying itself out.

If all went well with the radiant Yellow Diamond, by the end of the day, her disgrace would be nonexistent, the Quartzes who had disobeyed her shattered, the humans eliminated for good, and her “home” for so long nothing but dust in the cosmic wind.

  
  
  


“Where is Yellow Diamond?”

This was not exactly what Holly Blue Agate had been expecting.

Yellow Diamond’s Pearl was someone that she had been expecting, frankly - it was almost unheard of for the servants to wander away from their masters without risking severe punishment.

But for Yellow Diamond to not come out with her Pearl? 

Something was wrong here.

The Pearl in front of her winced, as was proper from any gem facing an Agate. “My master requests your presence inside her vessel. She wishes a report on the Zoo’s outlay.”

During this brief speech, however, Holly Blue couldn’t help but take notice of the Pearl’s hands.

They were moving very deliberately, just out of view of the cameras, blocked by Holly Blue Agate’s own body, making a series of motions that were repeating themselves every few seconds. 

First, making a circle parallel with the ground, as if to gesture around her, and second, to place her hands together, before moving them outwards, with the fingers moving apart - as if they symbolized something formerly in one piece becoming many smaller pieces.

Holly Blue wasn’t exactly the smartest gem in the world (a fact she was in total denial of), but she wasn’t a complete moron, and Yellow Pearl’s gestures were rather easy to understand.

“I will report to her at once, then!” Holly Blue did not need any further convincing, as she all but sprinted up the ramp, already mentally starting to prepare her speech to the radiant overlord as she did it.

She would never get the chance to give it, however.

ZZZZZAAAAAPPPP!!!!

Mostly because she had run right into a well placed Gem Disruptor in her dash to see Yellow Diamond.

Who was currently half-broken in a bubble in the Rebellion’s possession.

  
  
  


As the loud crackle of electricity discharging came from within the ship that had once belonged to her old master, Yellow Pearl snorted at how easily the Agate had fallen for her story.

_ Idiot. _

But, she had other things to worry about than suckup Agates who would likely be thrown into bubbles for the rest of the war, if she escaped just a quick end. 

So far, most of the Agates who had treated their former troops poorly (and hadn’t defected to the Rebellion already), tended to not last that long when said former troops finally got their hands on them...

But, those concerns were for the Zircons currently working out the law system they'd use after the Rebellion and the other gems who were trying to keep things in order among their ranks.

Blue Diamond’s Pearl had sent her here personally, and they had a job to do.

And as the small army of armed to the teeth gems she had brought with her spilled out onto the floor of the Zoo’s landing bay, she felt a smirk cross her face again.

Meanwhile, at the main entrance, the two Amethysts on guard had all but frozen in place when they saw the gems spilling out onto the landing zone, of a hundred different types, but all armed to the teeth. Far too many memories for both of them - from the original Rebellion - resembled this set of circumstances very closely.

Even though they didn’t know it, the fallen armories on Homeworld - specifically, the ones that had previously served as an arming ground for the Empire’s elites, such as Aquamarine - had ensured that none of the rebels sent to take over the Zoo would be wanting for arms.

But force was a last resort in this case, and she knew it, and so did everyone else that had come with her.

“Hey guys! What’s shaking?”

Which was why she had brought along negotiators.

As she watched Rose Quartz (or… Steven, was it?), the human who had asked to be called “Connie”, and the Earth Amethyst Facet 5 Cut 8XM walk out of the ship last, the two other Earth Gems seemed to relax a little, recognizing their faces.

And if all went well, soon, the Zoo would be theirs - a base all but unknown to the Empire within a few hours of the Earth sanctuary, and filled with Quartz gems who all had reason to be sympathetic to their cause.

Just as they had planned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware there's a big delay here - I sort of lost interest in the story for a while there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all of the Rebellion's members are gems, and not all of the Rebellion is focused solely upon fighting.

“Sweetie, is this really a good idea?”

“Mom, I’m fine!” Connie replied rather partly, despite being visibly almost exhausted.

Then, before Priyanka could protest any further about how she was clearly not okay, Connie ended the call, leaving her concerned mother to stare at the blank gemtech-derived screen that had been a “gift” from the Rebellion for helping them.

To say that Priyanka Maheswaren was concerned about the way her daughter had been acting recently was… pretty accurate, but it was sort of like saying that gems were rocks.

Accurate, but it didn’t exactly describe the entire reality.

She had accepted the fact that she didn’t know her daughter as well as she thought she had. She had been too strict, and Connie had refused to trust her or Doug for a long time after she had met her friend Steven.

She had tried to argue with Connie at first, but that had only lasted until her daughter had started screaming -  _ loudly _ \- at her about her parenting methods.

She had decided afterwards to give her daughter a lot more freedom, especially after Connie had gone behind her back and dropped half of her extracurricular activities without telling her first.

Aaand then her daughter had taken all of that as a sign that she could sneak off with her eventual husband, help invade the fortress of an alien dictator, nearly die and get brought back to full health by said eventual-husband’s rejuvenating lacramations.

Priyanka would swear later that her hair had become an entire shade paler in a single day after she had gotten sent to the Zoo and found her pink-tinted daughter fighting a purple woman twice her size.

Though that was mostly because she had found out that her daughter and that Steven boy had gone as “Stevonnie” to invade said fortress of said alien warlord, only to be eventually pulled out when she had needed to evacuate several of the soldiers that had gone with her.

Oh, and she had apparently somehow turned pink in the process. She seemed to still have more or less normal human biorhythms (unlike that Lars boy), but her cells had… 

...well, she was going to be busy for a long time studying what exactly had happened and if it could be replicated artificially for other humans or life-forms. 

Disease and wounds would still be a concern, but what appeared to be effective biological immortality like the Gems’ could be revolutionary if it was ever even close to recreated artificially.

_ If I manage to find some spare time in the near future _ , she reflected somewhat bitterly as she turned back to her patient/test subject, holding out a small beaker. “Okay, now spit.” 

Nodding obediently, the Rose Quartz sitting on the autopsy table patiently spat several times into the waiting test tube before looking back at her.

“Anything else, um…”

Priyanka breathed out patiently - this was not the first time a gem had trouble with human naming. She still had trouble with gem names herself. “Doctor Maheswaren. And no, that was all that I needed for now.” 

“Thank you, Doctor Maheswaren.” the Rose Quartz (Facet 3 Cut 2YS) replied, nodding as she got off the table and started to walk out of the room that had once been the Zoo’s autopsy bay for recently-deceased humans. 

“Next!” Priyanka yelled out, absently setting down the saliva-beaker in a tray at the back of the room. Amongst a large tray of beakers filled with a similar substance to the spit from Facet 3 Cut 2YS. Just from different sources, in this case.

Priyanka - as well as the rest of the scientific staff at the “Zoo - weren’t exactly sure why only Steven and his mother seemed to be capable of generating these “healing waters”, whether saliva or tears. And so far, despite a lot of tests run by several dozen people (including her, several Morganites, a few of the Zoo’s Quartz guards that had asked to stay and help instead of fighting), many attempts by the Rose Quartzes themselves, and the practical lakes of saliva Steven was making…

...Well, the sad fact was that there was currently a grand total of one active healer available in an intergalactic war, and despite everybody’s best efforts, the room that had once held the bubbled Rose Quartzes was growing more and more packed with bubbled, cracked gems by the day that had needed to wait so the teenager could get some sleep to recover.

_ That fountain that Steven’s mother left behind is helping stem the tide, at least. But if it runs out and we haven’t found a solution or enough of an advantage... _

Sighing as she looked around her, Priyanka wondered exactly when her life had become something out of one of those action-adventure novels.

Well, at least there wasn’t any chance of getting bored in the near future.

Mindlessly panicked at how many people around her were dying or “comatose”, yes… but not bored.

And the “New Rebellion” had managed to set up a warp pad in their house, so it wasn’t like the commute between there and this “Zoo” was a big time-eater.

As her thoughts wandered, however, the info pad she was using began to hum, the warning that someone was trying to reach her.

Personally, Priyanka was convinced that the designers had specifically picked the most annoying tune that they could so that whoever was called would answer as soon as possible. It wasn’t like humans hadn’t done it themselves...

“Need to figure out how to change the ringtone on this thing…” she muttered as she waved her right hand in front of the screen. “What is it?”

“Priyanka?”

The doctor sighed slightly as the voice came through - it was pretty easy to tell what type of gem was on the other end of the line, at least. It was a Morganite, one of the Gem Empire’s scientist caste - and there were more than three dozen of them working on this project with her, even without taking into account the hundred-plus Rose Quartzes, or the dozens of other gems who had come to the Zoo expressing an interest in science.

Thankfully, all of them had (after a thorough screening), been accepted into the Zoo’s chambers to help with the experiments. From what she had heard, the leader of the Rebellion had placed a _ lot _ of emphasis on finding a way of reproducing Rose Quartz’s and Steven’s healing fluids, whether with just the other Rose Quartzes, or artifically.

What the extensive staff meant for Priyanka, however, was that if their gemstone wasn’t onscreen, she had a lot of trouble at times working out just which particular Morganite she was talking to.

“I’m here, Morganite.” Priyanka replied, before sighing. “And I hate to ask this again, but which -”

The gem on the other end of the line sighed as well. “Morganite Cut 7, Facet 4PF.”

Recognition clicked in Priyanka’s mind quickly, as a monologue that the Peridot that her daughter had befriended came to mind. “Oh yes… Maker?”

‘Maker’, as she had been identified, sighed as she heard the nickname the other Morganites (and the Peridots) had given her. “Indeed. Have you finished obtaining the next round of samples from the Rose Quartzes?”

Before the doctor could reply, there was an interruption.

Namely, a large, pink-haired woman walking into the room and plopping herself down on the table patiently.

“...There are still a few more waiting to be examined.” Priyanka eventually replied. “I’d say you should send your assistant to pick them up now, and they should be ready by the time she gets here.”

Nodding, the Morganite called to someone offscreen. “Pearl, the next round is almost ready. Could you please go get them?”

“I’ve got it.’’ Moving at a pace slightly faster than walking, for a second, Priyanka saw a lilac-colored Pearl walking past her boss on the screen, already on her way to collect what Priyanka had collected herself.

“We’ll talk later.” Priyanka stated, tapping the screen off before turning to one of the last Rose Quartzes in line and holding out another beaker. “All right, spit."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie reflects on how things have been going for her and the Crystal Gems.

Panting furiously, Connie slowly let the sword she was holding fall to the ground, her now dark pink-tinted skin glistening with sweat (not as much as there would have been before Steven discovered his tears worked on (some of) the living as well, but still enough to signify she should think about stopping for now).

Across from her, the Jasper referred to as “Skinny” by the rest of the Earth Quartzes panted as well, her form flickering in the places where Connie had managed to land glancing blows.

“Call it… a draw?” Connie panted, her heart racing at a pace almost matching what it had been before she was “pinked.”

Across from her, the taller gem managed to get out a nod as she tried to focus enough so that she wouldn’t poof.

“Great…” Connie gasped as she walked away, dragging Rose’s sword along behind her.

Getting caught by that patrol ship had turned out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to the Crystal Gems - even Garnet and Peridot had been visibly stunned by what they had found on the planet.

Another rebellion. 

And to say that the rebels on-world had been left in awe by their arrival was… well, really the only way to describe it.

Garnet had been practically mobbed by several dozen other fusions - Connie could swear that her squeal of delight had nearly overpowered the joyful shouts from the group.

And her mentor…

Connie had helped scout several distant outpost worlds belonging to the Diamond Authority with the Gems before they had been caught by the New Rebellion - and during that time, she had learned a lot.

Firstly, the assumptions she had made about the Diamond Authority having “Eugenics” programs in place for any of its citizens that failed had been correct - but as far as she could tell, it had been taken to levels that made almost any human equivalents look… less monstrous.

And she was pretty sure that no human empire had ever made execution or poofing of their janitors (poor Corals…) for screwing up or missing a room an active policy for everywhere in it.

Or thought almost universally that killing their servants/slaves because there was a new, more attractive, “line” of them out was acceptable, even if there wasn’t an official rule about that.

Connie had seen it happen only once through the telescope that she had brought with her, staring at a minor gem military outpost led by a high-ranking agate. It had taken her almost all her willpower to keep herself from running down and pulling the shards of the poor slave off the ground where they had been left.

With that knowledge, it was hardly surprising that so many pearls had been residing on the main base of the New Rebellion - or as they called it now, Haven. Barely anyone noticed if they were gone - or noticed they were there in the first place.

And sadly, that was how a lot of the gems in the Rebellion had treated her at first.

  
  
  


_ Several weeks earlier… _

_ It had been a fairly good day for Connie so far. _

_ Summer vacation had started, she had managed to get time off from most of her out-of-school courses, and she was training under her mentor alongside dozens of others in preparation to help overthrow a galaxies-spanning empire. _

_ Those sentences going together without any irony said a lot about the girl’s life. _

_ As she walked from the combat arena, following Pearl back to the Warp Pad that led to Earth, however, an odd feeling struck her. _

_ It wasn’t the gut feeling she had when she felt like something bad was about to happen… but it wasn’t a good feeling either. _

_ It was just a feeling. _

_ “What is that, anyways? I don’t recognize her gem type.” _

_ “That’s not a gem, that’s a human!” _

_ However, as she overheard a conversation between two of the other trainees nearby, said gut feeling began to grow slightly more troubled. _

_ The pearl who had been speaking just looked confused by that. _

_ “What’s a human?” _

_ The orange agate who had been speaking with the former servant sighed. “A human is an sapient organic life-form, native to the planet Earth, the site of the first Rebellion, whose existence was part of the reason it began, as the completion of said colony would have likely led to the extinction of all organic life on Earth. They typically live for roughly sixty to eighty of their solar cycles before shattering -” _

_ “An  _ organic?”

_ The sheer amount of disdain in the pearl’s voice made Connie stop midstep. Similarly, the orange agate looked rather shocked. _

_ However, this shock meant that neither of them spoke, allowing the pearl to continue. _

_ “Why would anyone fight for a bunch of organics? We could use that planet to make enough Quartzes to support the Rebellion for centicycl-” _

_ At that point, Connie couldn’t stop herself from snapping out a retort. _

_ However, before she could say a word, someone else cut her off. _

_ “Why would anyone fight for a bunch of toys that can’t fight for themselves and are just made to look good or carry your things? Or a tyrant who only terrorizes the soldiers she commands? Or a soldier who’s only good for killing?” _

_ Both the Agate and the Pearl froze in place, before turning around. _

_ In front of them, the Renegade Pearl (and at that moment, the name  _ needed  _ to be capitalized), glared at the two gems. _

_ Even without being the recipient of her mentor’s fury, Connie would swear for the rest of her long, long, life that Pearl had scared her more that minute than anyone else ever had or would. _

_ Pearl looked at the other Pearl, her tone colder than Antarctica during an ice age. “I need a partner for sparring at the colosseum tomorrow. Congratulations, you just volunteered.” _

_ “R-rene-” The other servant stammered, overcome by both awe and terror. _

_ Pearl ignored the terrified gem’s fear. “Would you like to know my interpretation for this Rebellion? What it seems to me that you’re fighting for?” _

_ Briefly shoving aside what she was feeling, the Pearl looked fascinating, nodding quickly. _

_ Pearl smiled. “Everyone has a chance to live and be something besides what they’re told to be. We can’t do everything - but we can do and be more than just what we’re told to do.” _

_ Both the Agate and the Pearl nodded, a smile coming over the former’s face.  _

_ “And that means  _ everyone _ , no matter who they are.” Pearl continued, laying a hand on Connie’s shoulder. _

_ The Pearl’s face became confused again “But -” _

_ “Connie is one of my best students, even with all the others I have recently taken.” Pearl cut in, frowning. “And she is sentient. She is alive - just like everyone else here, and she is just as smart as any of you.” _

_ By now, the other Pearl was starting to stare at the ground, and the Agate was staring at her. _

_ Pearl sighed. “Report to the arena five centi-rotations before the rest of your class. You’ll be practicing with Connie. And I expect you both to perform _ just as well _ as you would otherwise when everyone else gets there.” _

_ “Aye aye!” Connie chorused, nodding at her mentor. _

_ “Yes, ma’am.” The Pearl muttered, not looking either Pearl or Connie in the eyes. _

_ Feeling a little better now, Connie jogged off towards the Crystal Gem’s quarters - where Steven and Amethyst already were. Garnet was out teaching a class on fusing and how to stay stable. _

_ Several seconds after she had run off, Pearl broke her gaze with the other Pearl and walked off after her apprentice. _

  
  


Now…

 

The majority of the rebels had looked at Connie rather… strangely, after that day. As though they weren’t sure what to make of her, despite what Pearl had said.

They had treated her with a lot more respect after the invasion of Homeworld though - especially after she had helped take down the small army of guards in White Diamond’s Citadel.

It had been surprisingly easy, to be honest - it seemed that most of the guards had been chosen for “coming out” like Jasper, in a sense, and spent their whole lives there, standing in one place for months at a time and, overall, seemingly only being there to look good.

It didn’t matter much how strong you were if you didn’t actually know how to use that strength.

“Ma’am!”

Stopping midstep, Connie turned around as a gem - a Calcite, specifically - ran up to her. “What is it?”

“Er, I… didn’t understand how you did that disarming move earlier. Could you show me again?” She quickly blurted out, clearly nervous. That probably had something to do with being near one of the “heroes” of the Rebellion that had helped clear out White Diamond’s base and managed to fight until they had made it to the Matriarch’s personal chamber.

“I was heading over to watch Steven.” Connie explained. “Could you ask Charoite? She was just teaching the last class, she said she was going to see how the law room was progressing.”

Connie watched as the former manager nodded and ran off to one of the main rooms of the Zoo - specifically, the records room, where the Rebellion’s law-gems had set up shop working out a new system of laws.

From what she had heard from Steven and her dad, they were really busy in there. At least she wasn’t one of their guards.

The Famethysts who had gotten stuck with that job came out looking nearly cross-eyed at the end of their shifts from all the law and order talk. Still, that wasn’t why she was here.

After Obsidian’s battle with White Diamond had ended with the Crystal Gems successful and most of Homeworld under the Rebellion’s control, they had all been sent here by Blue Pearl. Connie had, so far, deduced the main reasons for this was to keep Steven safe and stable - he was, at the moment, their only healing gem, and with casualties showing up in the hundreds at least every day, he had his work cut out for him.

It was more than Homeworld had, but that just made him more of a target.

Which was part of the reason they had gone with him, after all. 

Most of Homeworld’s forces now tended to run away screaming at the sight of the force that had defeated White Diamond, and wouldn’t go anywhere near the Zoo.

Well, at least her parents hadn’t complained about her having what was essentially guard duty - even if it was bodyguard duty for the son of a rebel leader that just happened to be her best friend. She was respected by most of the people there, the risk of dying was very low, and the Zoo's agricultural systems made food that was amazing, if you knew how to program said systems.

Just as she finished thinking, an alarm went off through the station.

"An allied ship has just emerged from hyperspace, and reports it is carrying broken gems! All guards, to the main bay!"

Plunging her private thoughts back into her subconscious, Connie dashed off to the landing bay, already knowing that her father, the Famethyst, and the rebel forces on the station would all be waiting there.

It was just another day for the knight of Steven Universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there we go! What will probably be the last chapter. If I ever get my motivation to keep writing this series back, I'll post more here, but for now, Deep Hues is officially finished.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What is the truth?" he asked.   
> "We place faith in ourselves," replied Altaïr. "We see the world as it really is, and hope that one day all mankind might see the same."  
> "What is the world, then?"  
> "An illusion," replied Altaïr. "One we can either submit to – as most do – or transcend."  
> "And what is it to transcend?"  
> "To recognize that laws arise not from divinity, but reason. I understand now that our Creed does not command us to be free." And suddenly he really did understand. "It commands us to be wise.”
> 
> Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade.

Greetings, former citizens of the Diamond Authority! 

As you likely already know, there is currently an uprising taking place against our former overlords, with participants from every gem caste known (and several castes that had previously been discontinued). 

The old laws are being heavily reviewed by a team of Zircons, as well as a number of gems interested in the workings of law and order, and striking out any former edicts that were deemed unnecessarily cruel or which serve no real purpose besides to strengthen the tyranny of the Diamonds. 

A new system of government is currently being worked out as well - however, given the current state of war we are in, as well as the time needed to work out the details for said system, we will be operating mostly under military rule until the time of crisis has passed. However, if you believe that any of your rights have been violated by a military gem or a law enforcement gem, please report it to the nearest Pearl, Coral, or a member of the recently created Intersystem Justice Tribunal. 

While the final decision has yet to be made on what laws will be removed and which are to be upheld, several have been passed that will affect all gems. They are found below.  
  


Gem Expansion:

  * Gems can only be incubated on planets with no previous life.
  * All sentient beings - gem or otherwise - are to be treated as equal under the law. Anyone who attempts to force another to carry out their will due to them being “inferior” will be prosecuted for classism, with sentencing to potentially include imprisonment or community service.
  * For the near future, any expansion projects or new colonies are placed on indefinite hold. Current colonies that have already been established will remain in place, but any further efforts are to be placed on reconstruction instead of new growth.



Caste System and Working: 

  * The ranking of the caste system is hereby discontinued. Any ranking of one gem over another is hereby removed, though all gems with leading positions deemed competent and loyal will be allowed to continue their current work. Any gems with leading positions deemed incompetent, disloyal, or unnecessarily cruel will be reassigned.
  * Pearls and Corals are no longer servants of any gem, and are equal to all other sapient life forms.
  * Gems are allowed to choose their own purpose and work. However, they are to continue doing what they were “made” to do if they cannot decide what they wish to do.
  * Gems will only be allowed to perform high-risk jobs (such as starship engineer) if they are able to pass a minimum level of training to perform said job.
  * Any military applicants who do not wish to participate in active wartime duties or who have been transferred off the front lines may ask to be transferred to the now-forming “Law enforcement task force.”
  * Any gems who do not wish to continue their original “purpose” but do not know what they wish to do in the meantime will be entered into a computer which gives random selection for any jobs that currently require more workers.



Fusing Laws: 

  * Fusion is no longer a criminal act. However, outside of combat situations, any gems who wish to exist as permafusions must undergo an evaluation to test their stability. Any fusions deemed insufficiently stable are required to undergo therapy sessions until they are judged to be sufficently stable.
  * Any permafusion planned to involve more than six gems at once must first undergo another series of tests, and also acquire a residence sufficiently sized to fit their combined form. Any group of gems who attempts to acquire a private residence in this manner and not exist as a permafusion afterwards can be charged with misuse of resources, with punishments potentially involving imprisonment or community service.



New Criminal Acts:

  * The Harvesting of cracked gems is hereby suspended for the immediate future. Shattering cracked gems is now a capital crime.
  * Any gems previously sentenced to Harvesting are to be freed immediately and rehabilitated from the Emptiness Disorder before they are released into society. The release of any gems accused of a capital crime will be handled on a case by case basis.
  * Gems can only be incubated on planets without native life. Anybody found guilty of incubating gems on planets with native life will be immediately subjected to the fullest possible punishment allowed by law, up to and including shattering or Harvesting.
  * Harvesting gems is hereby discontinued as a general practice, and only to be used as a punishment for capital crimes proved beyond doubt.
  * Shattering or harming gems for being off-color, defective, or fusing is illegal. Breaking this law is a capital crime, and will result in punishment up to and including imprisonment, temporary Harvesting, or shattering.
  * Shattering, or usage of any form of torture for someone’s failure to perform in their duties is a capital crime, with punishments up to or including imprisonment, temporary Harvesting, or shattering.



Civilian Life:

  * Small public gatherings are now allowed without permits - however, any acts of military-grade weapons being exchanged are only allowed to take place with advance warning.
  * Any gem who wishes to use public space for a private purpose must first apply to do so. Details may be found at the local law offices.



If you wish to inquire more about the organization of the new Gem Rebellion’s government, find your nearest law enforcer or system connector - they can tell you more. If you wish to help in the freeing of those who still are forced to labor under the Authority, find your nearest recruiting office.

 

If any of these laws seem bizarre to you, then may you soon be free of the Diamond’s lies that they alone know what is best. If you rejoice at the coming of these edicts, know this - soon, many others in space we have yet to liberate will join you in your joy.

 

Long may the New Rebellion stand!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Penal colonies are an idea that is currently being worked on by the leaders of the New Rebellion, where they can send troublemakers. With the Diamond Authority still up, fighting, and dangerous, however, they can’t afford to let people go who could just backstab them later.
> 
> What do you think?


End file.
